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 North Korea detained Merrill E. Newman for crimes it accused him
of committing during the conflict six decades ago as a member of the
U.S. special forces. He was released for humanitarian reasons after
he apologized, the country's state news agency said.
Newman flew to China, where he boarded an 11-and-a-half-hour flight
home. His United Airlines airlines flight landed at about 9 a.m.
Accompanied by half a dozen police officers, Newman looked to be in
good health and held his wife's hand before walking up to a podium
to briefly address the press at the airport's arrivals hall.
"I'm delighted ... it's been a great homecoming," a smiling Newman
told reporters. "I'm tired, but I'm ready to be with my family."
He was visiting North Korea, one of the world's most isolated and
unpredictable states, as a tourist when he was pulled off an Air
Koryo flight in Pyongyang minutes before it was due to depart for
Beijing on October 26.
A senior Obama administration official said the Swedish embassy in
Pyongyang had been "heroic" in its efforts to get to see Newman but
he suggested it was ultimately a mystery why the North Koreans chose
to release him.
"Who knows? We can only speculate," said the official, who spoke on
condition of anonymity.
The official added that "all efforts are now on (Kenneth) Bae,"
referring to another U.S. citizen being detained by North Korea
since November 2012.
Bae, a Korean American who worked as a Christian missionary, was
convicted by North Korea in May of crimes against the state. He has
been serving a 15-year hard-labor sentence.
U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, who is visiting South Korea, spoke
with Newman after his release.
"It's a positive thing they have done, but they have Mr. Bae, who
has no reason being held in the North and should be released
immediately and we are going to continue to demand his release as
well," Biden said.
Separately, a State Department spokeswoman declined comment on
Newman's well-being and treatment in North Korea, referring such
questions to his family.
Asked by reporters in San Francisco how the food was during his
detention, Newman replied, "healthy," but he declined to answer
other questions about his stay.
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Asked if he would return to North Korea, he said: "Probably not."
Newman served during the 1950-53 Korean War and worked with Korean
anti-Communist guerrillas fighting behind the lines against the
socialist North.
The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), as the country is
officially called, has called him a war criminal.
"He masterminded espionage and subversive activities against the
DPRK and in this course he was involved in killings of service
personnel of the Korean People's Army and innocent civilians," North
Korea's official KCNA news agency has said.
KCNA said Newman was released "taking into consideration his
admittance of the act committed by him on the basis of his wrong
understanding, apology made by him for it, his sincere repentance of
it and his advanced age and health condition".
The United States quickly welcomed North Korea's decision to release
Newman and called on Pyongyang to pardon Bae.
In Pasadena, California, Newman's son, Jeffrey, said his father was
"in excellent spirits and eager to be reunited with his family."
"This is a great moment for us as a family and it will be even
better when we are able to see him in a few hours," Jeffrey Newman
said, reading from a prepared statement. "After Merrill comes home
and has a chance to get some well-deserved rest, we will have more
to say about his unusual and difficult journey."
(Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard and Michael Martina in
Beijing, and Arshad Mohammed in Washington; writing by Dina Kyriakidou; editing by Gunna Dickson)
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